Joel Müller (1827 – November 6, 1895) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

and

Talmudist The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

, born in Ungarisch-Ostra,

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, and died in

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.
Jewish Encyclopedia Bibliography:
'' Allg. Zeit. des Jud.'' 1895, pp. 542-543, 556-557. He received a thorough Talmudic training and succeeded his father as rabbi of his native town. His next rabbinate was that of Leipa,

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; some of the sermons which he preached there have been published — "''Die Spenden der Mutterfreude''" (1868) and a collection of sermons on "Bibelbilder" (1869). Later he preached in Berlin. From Leipa Müller went to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, and became teacher of religion in a "''

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''." This he resigned to become professor of Talmud at the Berlin

Lehranstalt für die Wissenschaft des Judenthums A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

. In 1878 Müller published in Vienna an edition of the "''

Masseket Soferim ''Masekhet Soferim'' (), the "Tractate of the Scribes", is a non-canonical Talmudic tractate dealing especially with the rules relating to the preparation of holy books, as well as with the laws of Torah reading. One of the minor tractates, it is ...

''," and in the same year "''Ḥilluf Minhagim''"; the latter, which is a work of great value, first appeared in the

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periodical "''

Ha-Shaḥar ''Ha-Shaḥar'' () was a Hebrew language, Hebrew-language monthly periodical, published and edited at Vienna by Peretz Smolenskin from 1868 to 1884. The journal contained scientific articles, essays, biographies, and literature, as well as genera ...

''." Müller's treatment of the early

responsa ''Responsa'' (plural of Latin , 'answer') comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them. In the modern era, the term is used to describe decisions and rulings made by scholars i ...

literature was especially excellent. His "''Teshubot Ḥakme Ẓarefat we-Lotir''" appeared in Vienna in 1881; in 1886, "''Briefe und Responsen aus der Vorgaonäischen Jüdischen Literatur''"; in 1888, "''Teshubot Geone Mizraḥ u-Ma'arab''"; and in 1893, "''Die Responsen des R. Meschullam, Sohn des R. Kalonymus''." Müller's chief contribution to the responsa literature is his "''Mafteaḥ''" to the responsa of the Geonim — a summary of the contents of the various publications comprising the answers of the Geonim to questions submitted to them (Berlin, 1891). One of his latest works was an edition of the "''Halakot Pesuḳot''." After his death his edition of

Saadia Saʿadia ben Yosef Gaon (892–942) was a prominent rabbi, gaon, Jewish philosopher, and exegete who was active in the Abbasid Caliphate. Saadia is the first important rabbinic figure to write extensively in Judeo-Arabic. Known for his works o ...

halakic ''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is based on biblical commandments (''mitzv ...

writings appeared as vol. ix of the "''Œuvres Complètes de R. Saadia ben Iosef al-Fayyoûmî''." Müller's "''Jüdische Hochschulen''" (1885) and "''Jüdische Moral im Nachtalmudischen Zeitalter''" contain some of his sermons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muller, Joel 1827 births 1895 deaths 19th-century German rabbis People from Uherský Ostroh Talmudists